Sunday, July 26, 2009

Korres Blush Review and Swatches

Korres blushes to me are simply put: Amazing! Currently available at Sephora (or where you can find Korres Makeup) these blush are .21oz and cost $22 USD. There are six colors available which include:

  1. 15 Natural (golden nude)
  2. 16 Pink (pink rose)
  3. 18 Peach (peachy pink)
  4. 32 Purple Brown (plum beige)
  5. 44 Orange (golden peach)
  6. 47 Orange Brown (peachy beige)

I personally own 16, 18, 44 and 47 and love everyone of them. Each is richly pigmented, smooth and blendable. All of the shades also have a varying degree of shimmer however even the shades with a heavier shimmer are not glitterbombs and if well buffed leave just a dewy glow. My personal favorite shade is 44 Orange. It is bright yet natural and a unique shade that can be worn everyday and in my opinion is the essential summer shade. Of the four the only cool shade is 16 Pink. Although the shade is cool and my skintone is warm the shade still works wonderfully. This shade is also the one with the least shimmer (nearly matte). Below are some pictures and swatches of the aforementioned shades...


Pictured Above (L to R, top to bottom): Orange, Orange Brown, Peach, Pink
This picture above is the best representation that I could get of the shimmer in the colors. Colors (L to R): Orange Brown, Orange, Peach and Pink
Colors Above (L to R): Orange Brown, Orange, Peach, Pink

Friday, July 24, 2009

Eyeshadow bases 101...and some of my favorites

The first eyeshadow base that I want to discuss are gel eyeliners...

The gel liners shown below are from Coastal Scents ($6.95) these are creamy, blend-able, incredibly pigmented and serve double as an eyeliner. In my experience these are crease resistant and can be a bit drying on the lid. There is also a chance that the gel liner will stain the eye lid so I always make sure to put on UDPP to help avoid staining.

Colors above from L to R, top to bottom: 24kt, Deep Plum, Indigo Blue, Truffle, True black


Colors swatched, L to R, top to bottom: 24kt, Truffle, True Black, Indigo blue, Deep Plum



Next are MAC Shadesticks ($16.50/1.5g)...
I only have three shadesticks. These were my first try at cream bases other than UDPP and TFSI. I have a few issues with these but still use them, just with caution.
Problems:
  • Creasing--even with UDPP. This may be partially due to the fact that I have oily lids--I can't use NYX Jumbo Pencils either which is why they aren't part of this post.

  • Color selection-- These used to come in a wide range of beautiful colors but now we are generally limited to neutrals and pastels (i.e. Sugarsweet collection).

  • Staying power--I can't seem to keep my eyeshadow from fading after about 6 hours with these.

  • Longevity--I seem to burn through a shadestick pretty quickly so for the price I find that MAC paints or Paint Pots are more economical.
MAC Paints are next ($16.50/6.5g)...

I should start off by saying that I have never tried a Cream formula paint. This statement is important because I have never been more disappointed in a product than I am with MAC Paints. They are supposed to wear for 8 hours or more but I find that these crease worse than the shadesticks which makes it near impossible for me to utilize them. I've resolved to only wear them in the winter but that doesn't work all to well either. It might just be me but Paints are the under achieving little brother of MAC paint pots.

Above (L to R): Shimma, Stilife, Bamboom Above (L to R): Bamboom, Stilife, Shimma

My final, and favorite base type is MAC Paint Pots ($16.50/5g)...

Paint pots are a great base! On my oily lids I do not have a problem with creasing, staining or wearing off. I choose to wear some color of paint pot nearly everyday. What's great is that over the past few big collections (ie Heatherette, Fafi, McQueen) there have been some amazing colors which are generally available at CCO's. They are advertised to wear for 12-16 hrs and I generally find these to be incredibly stubborn almost annoying to remove. Fortunately a good makeup remover solves all problems. Below are some of my favorites (the colors correspond to the swatches). Besides these wonderful colors there is also a wide range of neutrals in both cream formulas and frost formulas.

Below (L to R): Delft, Perky, Contructivist

Below (L to R): Rollickin', Otherworldly, Electrosky